Archives: Contractor Email

REMINDER to those contractors who have applied to offer the Pharmacy First Sore Throat Service Winter 24/25 to submit an electronic contract to SPPG.
Dear Contractor

Correspondence has been issued 13 November 2024 regarding the Pharmacy First Service for Sore Throat.

SUMMARY

  • The Pharmacy First Sore Throat Service will launch on 1 December 2024 for two months initially.
  • Pharmacy contractors meeting the service specification are eligible to offer the service and must submit an electronic contract to notify SPPG of the intention to provide the service.
    • NB there is no requirement to return a signed copy of the contract.
  • Pharmacies that provided the pilot service last year should familiarise themselves with the revised service specification and guidance and must submit a new contract to provide the service for Winter 24/25.
  • Live training was provided at an ECHO session which has been recorded and is now available to view on the ECHO Moodle site for those unable to attend the live session.
    • For any issues with accessing the training please contact Elaine Kane at e.kane@hospiceuk.org or 02895582393.
    • A copy of the presentation slides are available at the BSO website.
  • All resources in relation to the service including promotional material will be available on the BSO website.  Service posters will be provided by SPPG and should be displayed in the pharmacy.
  • The fees payable to pharmacy contractors for this service are:
    • A one-off service set-up payment of £200 per pharmacy contractor.
    • A consultation fee of £32 per consultation.  This includes the cost of RADTs and other consumables.
    • The cost of the medicine supplied will be reimbursed on submission of prescriptions or pharmacy vouchers to BSO.

ACTION

  • Contractors are asked to read the correspondence issued by SPPG regarding the Pharmacy First Service for Sore Throat Winter 2024/25 and share with all relevant members of the team.
  • Those pharmacy contractors who have applied to offer the Pharmacy First Sore Throat Service are requested to return an electronic contract using the following link.

Please contact your Pharmacy Advisor if you have any queries regarding this letter.

Kind regards

SENT ON BEHALF OF
GERARD GREENE
Chief Executive
Dear Contractor

SUMMARY

SPPG have issued correspondence regarding the refresh of handheld barcode scanners within community pharmacy. Each Head Office/pharmacy should now have received an email from SPPG which includes a Microsoft Forms link to complete. This should be submitted by Friday 6th December 2024.

ACTION

Please check that you have received this correspondence from SPPG and that you submit the information requested in the MS forms link by the deadline stated.

Please do not hesitate to contact CPNI if you require any further information.

Kind regards

SENT ON BEHALF OF
GERARD GREENE
Chief Executive
For the attention of Community Pharmacies providing the Autumn 2024 COVID-19 and Seasonal Influenza Community Pharmacy Vaccination Service
Dear Colleague
SPPG have today issued correspondence providing an update in relation to the Autumn 2024 COVID-19 and Seasonal Influenza vaccination programme.

SUMMARY

  • The PHA have requested that the care home vaccination programme is to be completed by 6th December 2024.
  • The PHA are intending on contacting any care homes with no vaccination activity to encourage them to have residents vaccinated as soon as possible.
    • Any outstanding vaccination records should be added to VMS as a matter of urgency to ensure care homes are not contacted unnecessarily.
  • SPPG have stated that in line with the service specification, a vaccination record should be made on VMS on the same date as the vaccination. Where a vaccination event is not recorded on VMS within 15 days of the vaccination, SPPG reserve the right to not pay the item of service fee and any associated domiciliary visit fee.
  • The PHA are requesting all service providers to minimise wastage of vaccine doses. Providers are asked to:
    • Arrange cluster vaccination appointments
    • Only give single vaccinations from multidose vials in exceptional circumstances.
    • Refer to the SPPG guidance document on the minimisation of vaccine wastage.

ACTION

Contractors providing the service should:

Please do not hesitate to contact the CPNI office should you require any further information.

Kind regards

SENT ON BEHALF OF
GERARD GREENE
Chief Executive
This update contains important information for community pharmacy teams.

CPNI ALERTS

DOH(NI) ALERTS

BSO ALERTS

Pharmacy team(s) can keep updated via CPNI’s Contractor Calendar and Contractor Emails.
Or report medicine shortages, pricing and staffing issues via CPNI’s Medicine Shortage Reporter and Situation Reporter.
Please bring this to the attention of your pharmacy team(s).

Kind regards

SENT ON BEHALF OF
Gerard Greene
Chief Executive
Dear Contractor
SPPG issued correspondence today seeking expressions of interest from community pharmacies to provide the Pharmacy First pilot service for shingles.

SUMMARY

  • SPPG in conjunction with CPNI are developing a Pharmacy First pilot service for the management of shingles which will be delivered in approximately 40 community pharmacies from January 2025 until the end of March 2025.
  • Mandatory training will be provided to the selected pilot pharmacies at a live ECHO session on Tuesday 10th December 2024 at 7.30pm.
  • The fees payable to contractors for this service are:
    • A one-off service set-up payment of £200 per pharmacy contractor.
    • A consultation fee of £25 per consultation.
    • The cost of any medicines supplied will be reimbursed on submission of prescriptions/pharmacy vouchers to BSO.
  • Pharmacies will be selected based on the following criteria:
    • Geographical location
    • Availability of a suitable consultation area
    • Access to NIECR
    • Participation in other Pharmacy First services
    • Contracted opening hours
  • Following application of the above criteria, if oversubscribed, a random selection process will be applied in particular geographies.
  • If wishing to be considered for the pilot service, SPPG are requesting completion of the MS form by 8pm on Friday 29th November 2024.
  • Submissions after this date will not be accepted.
  • Contractors will be notified via email if they have or have not been selected to participate in the pilot service.

ACTION

  • Pharmacies contractors should read the correspondence and share with relevant pharmacy team members.
  • If you wish to be considered for providing this pilot service, the expression of interest form available here should be submitted no later than 8pm on Friday 29th November 2024.
  • Any queries regarding this can be directed to your SPPG Pharmacy Advisor.

Kind regards

SENT ON BEHALF OF
GERARD GREENE
Chief Executive

Dear Contractor

You will be aware from our previous contractor update of 9 September 2024 (CU#240909A) that the Northern Ireland Cyber Security Centre (NICSC) offered up to 20 qualifying community pharmacy contractors in Northern Ireland the opportunity to avail of up to 20 hours free on-site expert advice to help their businesses meet the five technical controls of Cyber Essentials.

Those 20 places were over-subscribed and expert advisory work is currently being rolled out to the successful applicants.

The NICSC has decided to reopen the NI Cyber Essentials Funded Programme to fill a further 16 places.  They are planning to relaunch the webpage on Monday 25 November 2024 at 11.00am.  Places will be awarded on a first come first serve basis and are open to other sectors.

Background

Cyber Essentials is an effective, Government-backed scheme that helps protect organisations and businesses against a range of the most common cyber-attacks.

It is recognised that some sectors are at greater risk of cyber-attack than others, due often to the sensitive nature of the information with which they deal, or because they are seen as an easy target for cyber criminals. The focus of the Funded Cyber Essentials Programme is to support small businesses that have a low level of cyber maturity, that work with data that is sensitive, and that would have a significant impact if disrupted.

The programme offers eligible businesses free, hands-on help to review and assess the IT systems they operate, and to identify measures needed to reduce the risk from the most common types of cyber-attack. Support will be provided from a pool of NCSC Assured Cyber Advisors – experts assessed as not only having a knowledge and understanding of the Cyber Essentials technical controls, but who have the ability to understand and work with small organisations. These advisors will be appointed by IASME – a cyber security certification company, and the NCSC Cyber Essentials delivery partner.

How do I apply?

The application process reopens on Monday 25 November 2024 at 11.00am and further details on the programme and on the application process can be found on the NICSC website.

Spaces are limited (and other sectors will be applying for these places), and allocations will be made on a first come, first served basis for eligible community pharmacy businesses.

To qualify for this scheme, applicants:

  • Must be a business entity contracted by the Department of Health NI to provide pharmaceutical services from a registered pharmacy premises in Northern Ireland (‘a community pharmacy contractor’); with 1 to 49 employees; and which holds personal data.  For those contractors operating more than one pharmacy contract, applications and funding are limited to one contracted pharmacy within the business;

   and

  • Must not have previously participated in the NI/NCSC Funded Cyber Essentials Programme;

   and

  • Must not currently hold Cyber Essentials Plus (CE+) certification, not been awarded CE+ certification since January 2023, and are not currently in the process of applying for CE+ certification.

It is anticipated that applicants meeting the criteria will receive around 20 hours hands-on support from an expert cyber advisor at no cost (note that no additional software or hardware that the advisor identifies as required to achieve Cyber Essentials will be provided).

Conclusion

This is a unique opportunity for additional pharmacy contractors to have their cyber security assessed, and an improvement plan identified by IASME experts. It has been shown that improvements made under the cyber essentials programme have greatly reduced the incidence of successful cyber-attacks in other sectors.

CPNI is grateful to NICSC for allocating this funding and for the ongoing support in regard to Cyber Essentials from the PSNI Cyber Protect Officer.  Demand is expected to be high – so contractors who are eligible (particularly those who were not successful the first time) are encouraged to apply early via the following link when the application process goes live.

To discuss any aspect of the programme or application process please contact Prof. Mike Mawhinney on 028 9069 0444.

Kind regards

SENT ON BEHALF OF
GERARD GREENE
Chief Executive